Seasonal Fun! Scarygirl!
This is my favorite time of the year, and like every year I can remember I’ve been digging around for video games to get me in the Halloween spirit. One of the first to come to mind this season, inspired by my recent Shantae marathons, is a free indie platformer released last year called Scarygirl.
Based on the fantastic art of illustrator Nathan Jurevicius, Scarygirl follows the adventures of a young girl — part pirate, part squid, part zombie? — searching a desert island for the man haunting her dreams. Although the platforming can be a little frustrating at times, the artwork is amazing, especially for a free Flash game. There are a lot of cool touches including the in-game animation and playable video game cartridge collectibles.
It’s not a long game, but if the $12 price tag on Shantae has discouraged you from hair-whipping monsters, maybe a little free tentacle-spinning action will suit your taste and offer up some Halloween fun.
-Andy
Good Game Get! Robot Wants Ice Cream
Robot is back! He got Kitty, then Puppy (and they didn’t get along at all) and finally Fishy. Now his blood sugar is low, and he and Puppy are off to the Ice Cream Planet for a snack — sans Kitty whose shenanigans got the furr-ball jettisoned into space. Hamumu Software is wrapping up their popular platforming series with the newly released Robot Wants Ice Cream.
If you haven’t had a chance to play them, these little browser games tend to take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes and have the titular Robot bouncing from one respawn point to the next, battling aliens on its journey for its heart’s desire.
The first game of the series is the most solid, but the second, Robot Wants Puppy, offers perhaps my favorite weapon of any game by using Kitty from the first game as its primary weapon. You even hunt for “claw sharpening” power-ups on your way to get Puppy.
This fourth installment mixes in familiar elements and a fully armored Puppy with a rage inducing “madcap” mode (I still haven’t achieved the third badge on Kongregate.com). Playing like four levels of the same game, and best when played in order, the Robot Wants series is a clever and fun bit of platforming, especially for anyone who loves robots, kitties, puppies or ice cream.
- Andy
Good Game Get! Victorian BMX
Introducing GGG’s newest writer Andy Fluke - a rad guy who is the Creative Director at a non-profit he founded with his wife called The National Coalition Dialogue and Deliberation.
He also has an appreciation for video games and writing about them, so he’s volunteered to contribute to Good Game Get! and I couldn’t be happier bringing someone with his great insight into gaming on board.
- Kyle
Death Does a Switch-Handed Topside One-Footer
AdultSwim Brings Us Victorian BMX
If you’ve spent any time playing AdultSwim games, you know that the quality can be hit or miss. AdultSwim has featured some real gems, like Robot Unicorn Attack (an AdultSwim original now headlining on the iOS) and the indie fave VVVVVV. But for every standout, you’ll also find your share of Poledance Party’s and Fantasy Telemarketer’s. Happily, their latest featured game, Victorian BMX, falls firmly in the gem category.
Slick in design and mechanic, this 2D stunt racer has the personification of Death pulling some pimpin tricks on a race through a bleak black & white landscape collecting flaming skulls, the souls of pram-pushing nannies, and even the floating, disembodied head of Queen Victoria herself.
Created by This Is Pop, developers of several browser and iOS games (including the unsettling yet strangely realistic virtual pet sim My Little Bastard), Victorian BMX is not an easy game. But once you get the hang of it, pulling off tricks, beating the clock and tearing through the level-ending guillotine becomes eXtremely satisfying and makes the necessary multiple runs worthwhile.
Although elements of both sound and visual design become repetitive, Victorian BMX’s simple, edgy art style, polished gameplay and perfect price tag make it an indie not to be missed.
- Andy